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Marijuana Legalization Could Encourage Widespread Economic Benefits

March 29, 2017

There are a number of advantages to society and the public safety in regulating marijuana, but economic arguments also favor its legalization. The benefits include increased tax revenues, job creation, and reduced law enforcement costs. However, to legalize and regulate marijuana requires an ecosystem of support services like those provided by SinglePoint, Inc. (SING) (SING Profile), American Cannabis Company (AMMJ), Kush Bottles, Inc. (KSHB), mCig, Inc. (MCIG) and Terra Tech Corp. (TRTC).

As a job-creating engine, the industry will be a super powerful diesel. Reporting on recently released data from New Frontier Data, Forbes(1) relates industry analyst projections that “by 2020 the legal cannabis market will create more than a quarter of a million jobs.” These projections are modest, based only on markets in the 29 jurisdictions that have legalized medical marijuana and the 10 others that have legalized recreational marijuana.

An industry with this potential requires strong, innovative spokes that support broader growth and opportunity. One such innovator is SinglePoint (SING), which, through its SingleSeed Payments subsidiary, stands at the ready to make the New Frontier Data forecasts a reality by offering payment solutions to the cannabis industry. Its mobile marketing and payment solutions include cashless ATM, Pay-by-Text™ and text message marketing, while the SingleSeed.com website is designed as a go-to for dispensaries in need of merchant payment processing solutions and other business tools.

“The cannabis industry is on the cusp of unprecedented liberties, and we are optimistic that as more states vote to legalize the drug, policymakers will have to take a second look at how banks will be involved in payment processing. When the industry becomes bankable, we will already be in on the action as a ‘first mover’ with mobile technology to revolutionize the cannabis merchant processing business,” SinglePoint CEO Greg Lambrecht stated in a press release.

Collaborating with its technology partners, SingleSeed is developing a marketing program specifically designed for cannabis accounts, enabling consumers to use their credit and debit cards to make mobile payments for cannabis purchases.

SingleSeed recently made a significant advancement in its broader strategy to strengthen its presence in the cannabis industry when it acquired a stake in Jacksam Corp., dba Convectium, the developer of a unique oil filling system for the cannabis industry. The investment in Convectium will help fund the company’s growth, as well as the marketing of its revolutionary 710Shark and 710Seal oil filling system. Convectium projects full-year 2017 sales of $3.5 million, which would represent a year-over-year increase of 150 percent, and it is already on pace to meet this goal, as first quarter sales significantly surpassed sales in the first quarter of last year.

Another key cannabis player is American Cannabis Company (AMMJ), which last week announced that it had secured its first client in the Canadian province of Alberta. AMMJ provides consulting services to cannabis businesses. The company will be working with this client to strategically plan business operations, as well as to develop a robust financial model that will serve as a foundation for license acquisition. AMMJ will also be involved in conceptual design work for cultivation and manufacturing facilities for the client.

Kush Bottles (KSHB) in early May added new distribution partners in Hawaii and Puerto Rico, two key medical cannabis markets. Both agreements include ‘reciprocity clauses’ that allow sales to patients with valid medical marijuana cards who are visiting from other states. Both Puerto Rico and Hawaii are frequent holiday destinations for U.S. mainland tourists. According to the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, Hawaii had approximately 9 million tourist visits in 2016. Kush provides packaging, supplies, accessories and branding solutions for the regulated cannabis industry.

In Nevada, mCig, Inc. (MCIG), through its lifestyle brands, services the legal cannabis, hemp and cannabidiol (CBD) markets. Originally a vaporizer manufacturer, the company has expanded to become a large-scale, full-service cannabis cultivation construction company and hemp-based CBD market supplier. mCig recently reported a 446 percent increase in third-quarter revenue to $1.3 million and recapped a busy quarter of achievements that include its first construction project and the expansion of its Grow Contractors brand into Oregon, where it is constructing a new facility.

Terra Tech (TRTC) is a vertically-integrated, cannabis-focused agriculture company that operates through several subsidiaries focused on individual niches of the cannabis industry. Its brands include IVXX, Inc., which produces medical cannabis-extracted products for regulated medical cannabis dispensaries throughout California. The company’s Edible Garden subsidiary cultivates a premier brand of local and sustainably-grown hydroponic produce sold through major grocery stores such as ShopRite, Walmart, Winn-Dixie, Raley’s, Meijer, Kroger, and others. Focused on the medicinal side, Terra Tech’s Blüm brand operates retail medical cannabis facilities focused on providing the highest quality medical cannabis to patients who are looking for alternative treatments for their chronic medical conditions. Blüm offers a broad selection of medical cannabis products, including flowers, concentrates and edibles, through its Oakland, California, and multiple Nevada locations. Terra Tech’s MediFarm LLC subsidiaries focus on medical cannabis cultivation and permitting businesses throughout Nevada, while its GrowOp Technology subsidiary specializes in controlled environment agricultural technologies.

The marijuana industry is budding with opportunity in the fields of medicine, retail, edibles and numerous other applications. Visionary companies like SinglePoint and the others mentioned above recognize the value of their innovations and how a regulated industry would benefit their operations, shareholders and the broader economy.

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